Fantasia Reviews Rise of a Guardian

Rise of a Guardian by L. J. Andrews

Published 8/20/2016

Ages 14+

“The truth of his family has always been a mystery, but finally Killian Thomas is given one chance to find answers to his past in a strange realm. A mysterious community, bound to protect the realms, promises to help him on his quest if he helps in a desperate search for powerful lost relics. Each relic possesses magic of all four realms, giving their owner unimaginable power. Strange abilities soon manifest within Killian, catching the deadly attention of a dangerous secret-society intent on destroying his home realm. Killian must find the relics before the society or countless innocent lives will be lost, but sometimes the closest allies are the most devious enemies.

Rise of a Guardian is the first in a three book series that will take fantasy lovers on a clean, epic adventure full of myths, legends, battles and triumphs they will read again and again.” – From Amazon

Story – Good

Miss Andrews has delivered an exciting, if a little unoriginal story. Killian is an interesting character, even if he falls a bit flat at times. Not to give anything away, but many parts of this story feel a bit too familiar and perhaps could have received a bit more spice. We love mystic relics as much as the next reviewers, but such a device should provide more purpose to the story, and we just did not feel like it was quite there. There are some good parts too, though, Miss Andrews has some nice twists here and there, and she presents a unique world that we do adore.

“He helped Killian sit in a small wooden chair. He swiftly clamored to an enormous wooden desk, the top of which was covered by the same beautiful marble as the hallway. He propped on thin knobby hip onto the corner of the remarkable desk, then simply beamed across the room at Killian from atop the perch.”

Style and Formatting – Needs Improvement

The formatting is off. There, we said it. This is a huge peeve of ours. We find strange formatting distracting. As well, another editor could look at this and do some good. There were parts that we had to read a couple of times to understand what was meant, and even then, it was nowhere near what was said. Now, the most egregious examples are rare, but there are smaller mistakes that do add up. We understand it can be difficult for authors to find people to edit their work, but do not give up, it is well worth the effort.

“Morning came quickly. Once he’d dressed and made his way to the wall to summon the elevator, his stomach began twisting and churning in knots. Within moments, the elevator doors opened to the front entry way. Nathaniel stood in a fitted navy suit, his dark hair combed back, much neater than the frazzled look he had yesterday.”

Literary Value – Average

What did we learn about ourselves? Not too much. About Killian? Not enough. This is maybe something akin to a YA coming of age story, with a bit of fantasy and mysticism mixed in. We never felt like it explored anything too deeply, but there was enough there to let us enjoy what had been written.

“Egan and Blake dragged Killian into the hallway. Curious Ponderi members were crowding around them, trying to figure out what had happened. He heard a girl scream as Killian made his way in front of the spectators. He could imagine what he looked like with blood pouring from every inch of his body and his mouth from the blow to the jaw.”

Overall – 3, Good

Now, when we say good, we mean you need to look past a few things, but if you can, it is a fun read. The poor formatting is tough, the errors in the text are tough, the flat characters and stilted dialogue are tough. That being said, we know that authors take time to improve, and nothing we saw here makes us believe future books from Miss Andrews will not be better, and we look forward to reading future installments of The Lost Relics series and seeing what she has to offer.
Want to read Rise of the Guardian? You can find it on Amazon.